Beautiful fins and I appreciate the craftsmanship (used to work in an aerospace metal spinning and sheet metal business)...but they look frigging deadly! Just looking at those blades make my nuts crawl up the back of my throat...

You have managed to scare me, I did not see it so dangerous but when more than 5 people tell me the same thing, it is better to rethink and look from another point of view

my fins have 3mm radius much fatter than the fins that are sold, the ones bought have really sharp edges, especially the part rasera, mine not
since I do not have a hydrodynamic profile, it is harder for water to do the coanda effect, the fins enter before lost, before they snap

I am a great admirer of the work of Roy Stuart and his fins printed in 3d, so I have encouraged to simulate this idea in my aluminum sheet, including my ideas
I've done a lot of simulations, the computer is suffering a lot with so much calculation, but I already have a significant breakthrough and I think it's worth making

I pass a photo that includes the plane of the fins and a photo of the hydrodynamic studies that I am doing. I have problems with the numerical results of the tests, I do not get the mathematical formulas right, but if I have good graphics with the turbulence they generate, something is something

it is going to be a paipo for fast waves, waves from 1m to 2.5m but there is a brutal massification of surfers and bodyboard so it has to have enough volume to compete in the capture of waves

From my short experience, for stand up surfing, the more volume there is, the easier it is to catch waves, but that is not necessarily true with prone boards since you have to deal with your legs dragging in the water.
To compete with surfboards in terms of catching waves early, I think the most important is :
- the swim fins you use (Dafin swim fins are great for that)
- the ability you have to paddle hard with your legs
- the technic ! Push the paipo forward and swim, trying to be as flat as possible, just like you and the paipo were a single long board, then when you feel the wave catching you you can jump on the board, at this point the board will glide on the water surface and the volume won't help (only the surface will).

it is going to be a paipo for fast waves, waves from 1m to 2.5m but there is a brutal massification of surfers and bodyboard so it has to have enough volume to compete in the capture of waves

From my short experience, for stand up surfing, the more volume there is, the easier it is to catch waves, but that is not necessarily true with prone boards since you have to deal with your legs dragging in the water.
To compete with surfboards in terms of catching waves early, I think the most important is :
- the swim fins you use (Dafin swim fins are great for that)
- the ability you have to paddle hard with your legs
- the technic ! Push the paipo forward and swim, trying to be as flat as possible, just like you and the paipo were a single long board, then when you feel the wave catching you you can jump on the board, at this point the board will glide on the water surface and the volume won't help (only the surface will).

YES! I would only add that kicking helps to propel us but, just as importantly, it lifts the lower body into a better planing position. Also, the prone rider is "caught" by the wave, and paddles only to reach a position where being caught by the wave is inevitable. This position is where the wave is cresting or soon to be cresting. To successfully compete for waves, you must sit deeper than anyone else, and learn to turn-and-go no matter how steep the wave. The late take-off is our bread-and-butter, embrace it!

I ride a mountain bike very often, not as much as I would like, lack of time. I do not compete, but if I do my kilometers, I will have to learn to apply the strength of my legs to the fins.

I have surfed for many years and I have often met people in bodyboard. It is amazing how fast vertical super waves and unbearable pipes go down to my level of surfing. but they seemed to enjoy while we with the tables we could only look at them with astonished face. little by little I will go learning, I am not an excessively talented person but if I fit easily

I hope to finish the paipos this week maybe the first days of next week, I really want to try them.

I will tell you the adventures and I will post pictures, I want to thank you for this support.

My first surf on a paipo was a dispiriting experience. With no previous experience with swim fins/flippers my legs tired quickly, I caught few waves and they closed out. It took me a few surfs before I started to get the right waves and reconfigure my thinking. I had no background in prone surfing so it was all very new. To add to the situation my friends didn't get at all why I was riding a prone board, even after my back improved.

nomastomas wrote:
YES! I would only add that kicking helps to propel us but, just as importantly, it lifts the lower body into a better planing position. Also, the prone rider is "caught" by the wave, and paddles only to reach a position where being caught by the wave is inevitable. This position is where the wave is cresting or soon to be cresting. To successfully compete for waves, you must sit deeper than anyone else, and learn to turn-and-go no matter how steep the wave. The late take-off is our bread-and-butter, embrace it!

Amen on that, Nomas. I do need to use a thicker, full-railed board on many of the East Coast waves for catchability at least until the size kicks up. Today and yesterday, in Cape Hatteras, I often used the tail dip method of getting into our little curls--when from a sitting position you sink the tail of the board into the water and then use the buoyant trust to enter the wave. This would be less feasible on the thinner boards I ride in reefy/tropical/longer period waves. But in almost all cases the late-takeoff is the name of the game.

I have never tried a tick, buoyant paipo, but I guess the take off technic I described earlier (to swim pushing the board in front of you) wouldn't work in this case. I tried sometimes this technic on a bodyboard, it didn't work well. It is interresting to see the differences between tick and buoyant boards like bodyboards and thin boards with neutral buoyancy. The take of is different, but also the ride, for instance the "superman" stance doesn't work on a bodyboard.

Too true. If by "superman stance" you mean arms outstretched in front...I must confess this is something I really enjoy. Throughout my life I have had occasional surfing dreams where it's a mix of surfing and flying and even in my most hardcore standup days the dreams were really more like Superman flying or I suppose in more modern terms the view was like a GoPro forward mounted on the nose of a board.

This poem started with the idea of a paipo 44. It is curious how the design has been developed thanks to your help. without you to make those paipos would be impossible you have helped me a lot, thank you very much
Made with fiber and epoxy eps
Blue 46.5 inches for flabby waves.
The 51-inch garnet is a cut for waves with strength.
Keels made of 3mm aluminum inspired by aircraft stabilizers
The paint finish leaves a little to be desired. I have to improve. Make me with a computer, compressor, paint gun ... very expensive for my economy.

Very nice boards, I like the blue one
But I keep thinking that you should replace these aluminium fins by regular fins, much less dangerous.
Maybe even try with no fins at all, just to see how it works ?